5:31
by jadoreparee
Summary: Bella is Edward's superior at work, but can she control her feelings for him? What about his feelings for her? A/H, A/U
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**_ _I do not own Edward, Bella or any other characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer and I can only thank her for creating them and their relationship._

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The clock ticked. Once, twice, three times. It was now officially 5:31 and my half an hour grace period had closed. He missed his deadline again. I buried my head in my hands and raked my fingers through my hair as I brought my head up to look at the clock. 5:32. I looked around the newsroom and saw him nowhere.

"Cullen!" I cried out. His head popped up from his cubicle and his eyes met mine. He knew what I wanted; he knew why I was calling him. I could almost see his spirit drop to the floor as he shuffled over towards my desk. My heart sped up as he got closer. I had to bite my lip to keep my mouth from hanging open. Why he worked in a newsroom I would never know. He should be a model. Nevertheless, he did great work. When he did the work, that is. My heart skipped a beat as his hand came to rest on my desk.

"I'm sorry. Here it is." He placed his article on my desk. I wanted so badly to take it and run it to the layout editor. Even worse than that was my want for him to clear my desk and ravish me. I bit my lip harder. "I know it's late, but it might be the best one yet, Ms. Swan." It probably was.

"Edward, I…it…" I was stumbling through my words. My head was swimming with all the different things I could say to him. I had to let him down, but I couldn't. He took advantage of my hesitance and leaned in towards me. His face was only inches from mine.

"Isabella." My name sounded like heaven coming from his lips. His spicy, sweet scent engulfed me and sent my thoughts flying. His brilliant green eyes were locked on mine. My mouth was gaping open as my brain was stumbling for words.

"I'll see what I can do." I could barely whisper. _Shit, _my mind cursed over and over. He slowly pulled away from me and smiled coyly. He mouthed a polite 'thank you' as he turned and walked away. I shut my mouth and swallowed hard as I glanced at the paper he had laid on my desk. I didn't have the time to read it; if I was going to submit it I had five minutes at best. The layout editor hated my grace period and I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate the extra time I had made for Edward. Again.

I stood up from my desk and walked towards the elevator. I tried to take a route that wouldn't bring me past his cubicle but it was inevitable. I tried to be quick as I passed but I couldn't help but peek at him. The light on his desk was off, his computer shutting down meaning only one thing. He had already left and by the grace of God, I hoped that the elevator carrying him had already came and gone.

No such luck. There he was, standing at the elevator doors waiting. I took a deep breath and straightened out the wrinkles in my skirt. I took a step forward as if to get on the elevator then stopped. Maybe I could just wait for the next one. But he already saw me go towards the elevator. _Shit._

His long arm held the elevator door open, waiting for me.

"Going down?" I gnawed on the inside of my lip and nodded meekly. I got in the elevator and he let the doors closed behind me. There was no turning back or pretending I forgot something. I leaned against the back wall of the elevator and stared intently at the article in my hands. I had to distract myself and get my heart beating at a normal pace. It was beating so loudly in my ears that I barely heard him ask me what floor.

"Ms. Swan?" He cleared his throat.

"Oh, three." I mumbled, embarrassed. His finger pushed the button on the keypad as I stared at his body, imagining what it was like underneath his blue striped shirt and navy pants. I could only imagine, but I'm sure it was perfect; hard lines, defined muscles. I gripped the rail against the wall to keep myself from reaching out to touch him.

"So have you gotten the chance to read it?" He asked, leaning back against the wall. His hand rested next to mine, our pinky fingers brushed against one another gently. I shuddered and pulled my hand away.

I shook my head. "No, but I'm sure it's perfect." He laughed quietly. _Just like you_.

"Ah, this is my stop." I looked up at the highlighted number over the elevator door. Three. _Shit! Why today?_ The elevator doors opened and I wanted to bolt. I wanted to run out of the elevator, place the article on my editor's desk and melt into the floor. If at all possible, I would have liked to melt through the crack in the elevator shaft. "After you," he held his arm out, gesturing to me that I should leave first.

"Thank you," I mumbled as I stepped out of the elevator. I tried not to look him directly in the eyes, but as I walked out I caught him smiling down at me. My heart fluttered and I smiled back at him.

"Goodnight Isabella," he said smoothly. He nodded and waved politely in my direction as he walked towards the door to the parking garage. I waved back and then spun around, steadying myself on a chair in the hallway. I couldn't help but smile when I thought about him saying my name. Saying my name, screaming my name, either way it would sound ideal. I tried not to think about that. I had to explain away the article's lateness again and I couldn't let my mind wander. I peered around the corner to see if James was in his office. For once, something went right. He wasn't there. I could just sneak in, put the article in my pile and sneak back out.

I had gotten all the way up to the second step in my plan, but as I turned around to leave, James's door swung open.

"Well, well. To what do I owe this great honor? Another Cullen piece?"

"I…" I didn't know what to say. I couldn't lie, but then again if I told him the truth who knows what he would do to me. "…I was just checking to make sure I had given you everything!" I smiled a fake smile.

"It better be a fucking masterpiece, Izzy." I cringed. He knew I was lying and he definitely knew I hated when he called me Izzy. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me over the rim of his glasses.

"It is. I promise." I flashed my smile back at him. He smiled and caught my arm as I turned to leave the room. _Shit. Fuck. Shit._ I repeated the curse words over and over in my head. He pulled me closer to him and whispered in my ear.

"I believe you Izzy, but I don't want you making any more special accommodations. Especially not for _him._" He spat out the last word and I tried to pull away. "You're smarter than that." He kissed me roughly and let my arm go. I walked slowly back to the elevator which brought me back to my newsroom. I grabbed my bag, shut my light and turned off my computer. 5:46. The events of the past fourteen minutes were spinning in my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

After a hearty dinner of chicken lo-mien topped off with an embarrassingly lame fortune cookie, I flopped down on my couch and turned on the TV. Luckily for me, my pixie of a housemate, Alice, was out courting our upstairs neighbor, Jasper. The apartment was mine for the night, thankfully.

Just my thoughts and me. Nice and quiet. Well, maybe not so quiet after all. With every change of the channel, another scene from my day flashed through my head. 64, Edward was sauntering over towards my desk. 65, he was leaning in towards me. 66, my name on his lips. 67, his lips on mine…I slowly began to drift off as my fantasy played out in my head.

I was probably drooling or mumbling incoherently when Alice shook me awake.

"Bella…Bellaaa," she sang as I opened my eyes. "Hello there, sleepy head!" she chirped happily.

"Alice," I groaned as I looked at her sternly. "Edward was about to profess his undying love for me and I would rather not have been woken up, thank you very much." Her eyes lit up when I mentioned his name.

"Dreaming of your little work boyfriend again, are we?" I rolled my eyes at her. She was seated on the arm of the couch, her feet resting in the cushions.

"Yes, but don't get any ideas Alice. I really don't think anything will ever come from my strange infatuation. I mean it isn't like I haven't already tried the whole workplace romance. Look where it got me."

"A raise? A better job?"

"Well yes, but no. An unpleasantly awkward situation with James."

"Oh, come on Bella!" She threw her hands up in the air. "At least he doesn't send you notes or flowers anymore…" She stood up and put her hands on her hips. She walked towards her room. "Bell, it could be worse."

"Oh yeah? How? He kissed me today, Alice. It was awful. Forceful and awful." I gagged a little bit at the thought. Alice laughed. "Give it up, pixie."

"For the sake of time, I will. But don't think I'm actually going to give up on you and Edward. I see good things happening. Put whatever James did behind you, Bella. You aren't doing anything good for yourself by sitting around dreaming about him. I see good things, Bell, good things." She tapped her finger to her temple and smiled.

"Alright, Alice. Goodnight." She was behind her door and poked her head out when I called after her. "Oh! How did your date with Jasper go?" I dragged out his name, mocking her crush on him. Instead of a reply, I just got a wink as she closed her bedroom door. I shook my head and laughed to myself. Obviously her day had gone better than mine had, but it was bound to go well. After all, it was Alice and her undeniable charm. I don't think Jasper knows what he's getting himself into.

I lifted myself off the couch and walked over to the kitchen. I poured the rest of my wine down the drain as I thought about what Alice had said. Good things. She had an uncanny ability to feel her way around situations. Trusting her was my best bet at this point. I flicked off the T.V. and headed to my bedroom. It was late and I was tired. Not to mention I had a dream to get back to.

Edward's hands pushed mine up against a wall, pressing my back against the wall by pushing his whole body weight against me. He was kissing my neck and his hands were caressing my body. I wrapped my leg around his and pulled him closer. My pulse was racing and we were both breathing heavily, now skin on skin with no clothes to interfere. We had moved to the bed and he was kissing down my torso. I moaned his name and he looked up at me.

My fantasy quickly turned to a nightmare when James's face flooded my dreams. I wriggled away from him in my dream, tossing and turning in my bed. His hands were all over me and my skin was crawling wherever he touched me. Not like when I dreamt about Edward's hands. James just smiled up at me and kept doing what I wished so hard that Edward would do. He kissed me, forcefully again, like he had at work but this time I kissed back. I felt utterly betrayed by my own mind and tried as hard as I could to wake myself up. Once I woke up, I turned over to look at the clock. 4:10, wonderful. Another 3 hours until I needed to officially get up and out of bed. I shut my eyes tight, trying to fall back asleep and tried to will myself to dream of Edward again.

The shrill ringing of my alarm clock woke me up from a dreamless sleep. I groaned as I sat up and spun my body around to put my feet on the floor. I clicked my alarm clock off and stretched. I glanced at the calendar on the wall. It was Friday, finally. That meant assignment day.

I generally like assignment days. I get to meet with all the heads of all the departments and we are given a stack of assignments to hand out to our writers. Then I get to have a meeting with my section, thanks to James I head the "Community" department, and discuss who gets to go where and report on what for that week. I'm fairly lenient with my group and I let them choose their assignments instead of dolling them out and playing favorites. Sometimes I get to write an article if there are too many "Community" assignments for my writers. I'd rather write the articles all the time and not have to deal with James at all, but Alice was right. I do have a better job and make more money thanks to him. I felt like this assignment day would be different, though. Granted it's Alice's feelings that I usually relied on, I was willing to bet that my feelings about today's assignment day were right.

I finished my morning ritual by 7:45, a new record for a Friday, at least, and was in my parking spot by 8:25. I got out of my car just as I saw the shiny, silver Volvo pull into the spot across from mine. Not just any silver Volvo, it was Edward's. I couldn't even count the number of times I've thought about that car and all the things I would love for him to do to me in it. I turned pink at the thought, as if he could see into my mind. It was a ridiculous idea that he could read my thoughts, but I turned red thinking of all the things he would have heard had he been able to get into my head. I walked quickly towards the door, my heart beating in time with the click of my heels on the cement.

Once safely inside, I made it to my desk and sat down. There was a post-it note tacked to my computer, James's handwriting scrawled across the small yellow paper.

It read, "Izzy, the article was amazing. Don't make any more exceptions. We need to talk. xo" I cringed. _We do not need to talk, _I thought. I crumpled the note and threw it away. Well, I tried to throw it away, at least. It missed the garbage can by three inches. I heard someone laugh quietly behind the partition. I peered around the wall to see who it was and saw Edward looking back at me. Instead of getting up and throwing the paper away like a normal girl, I rolled backwards about a foot and tried to lean sideways over my chair to get the note. I stretched my reach as far as I could then felt myself falling. _Shit!_

I fell to the floor, barely catching myself as my chair spun away from me. I would give my year's salary to be able to go back and stop myself from doing that or to just melt into the floor and be forgotten forever. I generally tried not to make it known in my office how clumsy I really was, but anything that I had kept under wraps was now out in the open for everyone to see. Isabella Swan lying on the floor in her office. I heard some laughter, as was to be expected.

Before I knew it, or could react to it for that matter, Edward was by my side. He took my hand and pulled me upright again. I was probably making mountains out of molehills, but it felt like he held my wrist and my body closer to him for longer than necessary. I looked up at his face and found that he was looking back at me. Our eyes locked for a moment. He cleared his throat and quickly looked away, letting my hand go. I took a step back and frowned.

"Ms. Swan, are you alright?" he asked. His voice was not its normal, smooth tone. He sounded…nervous? Was Edward Cullen nervous to be around me? I turned bright red. _Oh God._ I realized he had just rescued me from the floor and wanted to melt again. My face was hot and probably redder than a tomato. I swallowed hard and chewed on the inside of my lip as I nodded.

"Thank you," I said under my breath. He bent over and threw away the post-it.

"Not a problem, Isabella." He nodded at me and turned back towards his own desk. He called to me from across the room, "Oh, Ms. Swan! Assignments today?"

I tried nodding back at him, but realized the whole department was probably asking the same question. "Yes," I called back. "9:45 in the conference room."

By 9:30 I was back downstairs with my assignments, 12 in all, after expertly avoiding James's "talk." I thumbed through my papers, a school carnival, library rededication, I wasn't expecting a breaking news story, but something better than the normal would be nice for a change. I unlocked the conference room and flipped on the lights. I laid out each assignment on the table individually and heard the door click shut.


	3. Chapter 3

"Izzy," I heard James's rough voice and spun around. "You're avoiding me."

"James!" I was startled. He was right, but I wasn't expecting him to come find me. That wasn't his style. "No, not at all! I…I just…I wanted to get my meeting started so-"

"You're avoiding me," he cut me off. He took a step forward and I took one backwards at the same time. My butt bumped into the table and my hands fumbled behind me trying to find the edge. He moved one step closer but I had nowhere else to go. I was nowhere near graceful enough to dart out from in front of him. My efforts to maneuver backwards around the table combined with James's efforts to corner me and I ended up sitting on the table. "I know you got my note, it isn't on your desk anymore."

I swallowed hard as he placed his hand on my thigh, and brushed my dark brown hair off my face, tucking my bangs behind my ear. "Don't avoid me Izzy, we need to talk," he whispered lightly in my ear, kissing right below my earlobe. My head rolled back gently, exposing my neck. He kissed my neck lightly and traced his finger along my jaw line. I let out a soft whimper. He knew how to drive me crazy, and I hated him all the more for it.

"James," I put my hands on his shoulders and tried to push him away. He continued to kiss my neck gently. My hand squeezed his shoulder. He paused for a second and my head snapped back up. I shoved him away. "Let me go." His hand snapped up and grabbed my wrist as he looked directly at me. His eyes were burning with anger and I was genuinely scared.

"Now listen, Izzy." His voice was hard and angry. "You listen to me. I can get your position taken away as easily as I got it for you. Maybe you should have listened to me when I said no more exceptions. And next time I need to talk to you, you might want to seek me out. You also might want to reconsider breaking up with me. No, you definitely want to reconsider it, Isabella." He spat my name out like a curse.

"Ms. Swan?" Someone knocked on the door. James looked directly at me and held one finger up to my mouth to make sure I didn't say anything. "Isabella?" It was Edward. He knocked again and waited a second before turning the knob. James quickly removed his finger and kissed me again, like he had yesterday. His hand grabbed at my thigh and put his other hand on my shoulder.

"Unf," I mumbled, pushing James away with all my might. His mouth broke away from mine as I ground my heel into his thigh. "Get. Off."

"You're going to regret that, Izzy." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he blew past Edward and out the door, slamming it behind him. Edward just stared at me, sitting on the table. I rested my elbows on my thighs and buried my face in my hands. I heard him move swiftly towards me and I peered out between my fingers.

"I'm so-" I began to apologize for what he had seen. He cut me off.

"Ms…Isabella, are you alright? Are you going to be okay?" He put his hand on the small of my back and gently lifted my head. I nodded and blinked back tears. I hated James. I hated that he knew where I wanted to be kissed and touched and just how to do it. I would eventually bend to his will again. I looked at Edward's face as he looked over my body, making sure no damage was done.

"I'm fine. Edw…Mr. Cullen. Thank you." I slid off the table gracefully, almost proud of myself, before I realized that he had guided me to the floor. His hand was still on the small of my back and he was still looking me in the face. I turned red.

"Bella, don't worry." My mouth fell open and I immediately looked away. "I'm sorry. Is it okay that I call you that? I'm sorry."

"No, it's…it's fine. Don't worry about it Mr. Cullen." I chewed the inside of my lip. I picked a pile of assignments to concentrate on so I didn't have to look him in the face.

"It's Edward." His voice was calm, collected. "You can call me Edward. Please, call me Edward." I nodded, still looking away. "Bella," he put his hand on my chin and turned my face towards his. My heart was pounding in my chest and I'm sure he could feel it. I smile, embarrassed and felt my face grow warmer. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something else but quickly closed it and looked towards the door. I cleared my throat and took a step back as Victoria, one of my other writers, opened the door. My mind went blank as soon as Victoria walked into the room followed by the rest of the department.

"Ms. Swan," Edward began, "I was hoping to take uh…this piece." He picked a paper up off the table. It was a piece on the local high school's performance of "The Laramie Project." Not something he would have normally taken, but I had to commend him on his effort to make this situation normal.

"Um…yeah, sure." My hand rubbed the back of my neck and I rocked back on my heels. I turned to look at the rest of my staff. "You guys know the drill, pick your assignment, get it to me by Thursday." I smiled half-heartedly and mouthed_ thank you _to Edward who subtly winked as he walked out the door, assignment in hand.

The rest of the assignments were looked over and doled out with no problem. It was 10:30. I shut the lights in the conference room, got a cup of water from the cooler and sat down at my desk. There was another yellow post-it note tacked to my computer. My throat got tight, another note from James was not what I needed right now. I looked at the note and realized immediately that it was not written in James's rough, short scribble. Instead it was Edward's tight, smooth cursive that caught my attention. "Bella," it read. "I meant to tell you something before. Are you free later? I'll call you." I almost spat out the water I had just taken a sip of. On the bottom corner there was a tiny arrow directing me to turn the note around. On the back there was more. "When you throw this out, please get out of your chair." I smiled, embarrassed, and tacked the note to my computer again.

I spent the rest of my day smiling and thinking of the things Edward could have to say to me. _I love you_ was a popular one. Along with _you're beautiful_ and _I want you._ His velvet smooth voice distracted me from any other work I could possibly do for the rest of the day. At 3:30 I made the executive decision to go home. If I wasn't going to be productive at work, why even bother being there? I packed my note from Edward in my bag and slung it over my shoulder as I clicked off my light and got ready to leave. As I was walking towards the door, my phone buzzed in my purse and I jumped. My heart began to beat faster as I fumbled around in the endless abyss that was the bottom of my knock-off Coach tote. I finally found my phone and flipped it open. Alas, it was only a text message from Alice. My heart dropped in disappointment.

"Pizza tonite? Jasper wnts 2 come ovr," it read. Why she could never get the hang of text messaging me in complete words I would never understand.

I replied, "Sure, I'm on the way home," and flipped my phone shut. It was then I realized that Edward didn't have my number. My heart sank a little further. I pouted and walked back to my desk and wrote my number on a post-it to stick to Edward's desk. I changed my normal route to the door so I would pass his desk. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my racing pulse but when I turned the corner, he was gone. His light and computer was off, his desk cleared of his daily mess. I let out an aggravated sigh and stuffed my note in my bag.

When I reached the glass door that led to the parking garage, I looked out and saw Edward leaning against my car. My heart skipped a beat as I pushed the door open and continued walking towards my car. I looked down at my feet as if I was willing myself not to trip on anything, including them, as I was prone to do in heels, even the three inch ones I wore now. Edward cleared his throat as I reached my car and my head snapped up.

"Bella," he pushed himself up off my car and took a slow step towards me. I swallowed hard, trying to calm down my racing heart. "I realized I don't have your phone number." His hand was rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "And, well, how am I supposed to call you if I don't have your number?"

I couldn't tell him that I was thinking the exact same thing, or that when I realized it my heart had dropped. I couldn't hand him the post-it I had crumpled up in my bag with my number on it in anticipation of this question. Instead I just stood there, slightly dumbfounded.

"So, could I, um, could I have your number?" He was blushing. I bit my lower lip as I smiled and nodded.

"Of course." I couldn't help but beam with excitement. I recited my phone number to him and he copied it down in his phone. "So, I guess I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah," he replied as he turned to leave. I steadied myself on the door of my car. I watched him get into his car and wink as his head turned towards me. My heart was beating irregularly and my knees could no longer hold me up. I flung open the door to my car and then slammed it once I was seated behind the wheel. I squealed with joy and drummed my hands on the dashboard. Alice was right, good things were going to happen.


End file.
